Life goes on in Afghanistan's Helmand province

Afghan men gather at a crowded bus stop in the center of Lashkar Gah to catch a bus to Sangin, Afghanistan, the scene of some of the most violent fighting between the Taliban and British and U.S. forces.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

Afghan women shop in a crowded bazaar in the heart of Lashkar Gah, southern Helmand's provincial capital in Afghanistan. In deeply conservative Helmand women have worn the all encompassing burqas for centuries yet they too say the increasing insecurity makes them afraid even from behind their veils and shopkeepers say burqa sales are up.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

An Afghan family of five leaves on a single motorbike Marjah, Afghanistan's chaotic one-street bazaar.

Afghan men gather in a tea house in the center of Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

An Afghan man waits next to the bed where his sick daughter is treated in the Boot hospital in Lashkar Gah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. Only a few hospitals service the entire province, residents often have to travel over dangerous roads to get to the few hospitals located in the capital.

Anja Niedringhaus / AP

An Afghan nomad kisses his young daughter while watching his herd in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan. They say they are too afraid to go out after dark because of marauding bands of thieves and during the day corrupt police and government officials bully them into paying bribes.